Argylle - Espião Secreto

Matthew Vaughn is a favourite of mine and I love the KIngsman series, but Argylle is his first big misstep so far, where even his trademarks don't work and the whole thing is just so weird and dysfunctional. A lot of the film is hampered by the fact that there is no R-rated action, if he had sprinkled some gore in there and spiced up the film with some decent humour, the whole thing would have worked a lot better, but unfortunately the casting alone isn't worth much. The most interesting acting trio of Henry Cavill, John Cena and Dua Lipa are rather just cameos, and Sam Rockwell tries his best, but I'd rather see someone else there. Bryce Dallas Howard is completely miscast for me though, as the bulge in the action doesn't work for me at all (Dua Lipa and Sofia Boutella would have been much better suited there). The plot twists are quite overwrought and none of them are very interesting or shocking, and even the action this time is not typically playful, creative and inventive, except for two quite original action scenes in the very finale – the dance using colored smoke bombs was interesting and visually nice and the oil skating was mad, but it was one of the lighter moments of the film. That said, I have to criticise the opening scene on the train, where the switching between the two actors was very annoying even to me, and it's a shame no one told Vaughn that this really isn't cool. Overall a big disappointment, but I didn't suffer, it's watchable. 55%. (06/03/2024)

Author Elly Conway discovers that her spy books have more in common with reality than she thought, and that their hero, Argyle, may very well be real. But why does everyone suddenly want to kill her? Matthew Vaughn delivers another homage to spy action movies that is full of ideas and original action sequences, but this time perhaps so wild that it may be beyond tolerable for some. (01/02/2024)

It's fun, suspenseful, and seemingly a classic variation on The Man from Acapulco, but that's not the main thing. The main thing is the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard (spoiler). This time, the marketing plays a game completely independent from the actual film. I'm really glad it's not another Kingsman: The Secret Service. Because there's only one Bob Saint-Clare. (01/02/2024)

Skating in oil! A meta espionage action whirlwind with many incredible twists and turns. Matthew Vaughn takes the viewer for a ride on several levels and yet it's seamlessly coherent and everything makes perfect sense in the end, no matter how absurd the genre crutch. Sam Rockwell is terrific, and the train fight with the Henry Cavill shootout is brilliant. The ending is extremely over the top, colourful colour and imaginative, but I'm afraid no one but Vaughn’s hardcore fans will enjoy it. Dua Lipa in a gold dress is unreal. Unfortunately, I had a big problem with the casting of Bryce Dallas Howard, who didn't fit in at all, wWhich is a problem for obvious reasons. The with, the parody, the extreme authorial vision. I haven't seen anything like it in a long time. But Vaughn had the most fun since the first Kingsman, and it shows. (10/06/2024)

Matthew Vaughn is successfully copying Zack Snyder's creative trajectory. He's not at the finish line yet, but he's getting close. A tiresome, mechanical layering of twists and turns (where no one can be able to tell if the film still makes any sense on any level by halfway through the running time at the latest) wrapped in a sometimes aesthetically repugnant package, complete with humour for first graders in elementary school. Even the acting doesn't work. As a director, Vaughn manages to give drive to at least some of the action scenes here, but far from all of them (e.g. the opening sequence on the train, switching between two actors, struck me as completely disjointed and ultimately annoying). (05/03/2024)